Borgo Manca Suite takes its name from the most characteristic district of Sasso di Castalda and to get there you have to cross the whole village immersing yourself in a postcard landscape. Which opens up before the eyes in all its beauty once you cross the entrance threshold of the reception that hides a small treasure: a small terrace clinging to the rock and overlooking the valley on which the two Tibetan bridges that join the banks of the canyon stretch out where the Arenazzo flows.
Between past, present and future
The delightful Borgo Manca Suite widespread hotel with bed and breakfast treatment, born from an idea of Enrico Torlo, currently consists of three units. Two suites, carved into the stone that emerges from the walls, can be reached via a staircase that gently descends towards the ravine and are arranged one above the other.
La Stalla today houses a spacious room that can accommodate up to 4 people: the current sitting room with two sofa beds, was originally the space where the animals were kept, communicating with the family bedroom, according to a model widespread in the class peasant from southern Italy.
The must? The balcony with a panoramic view of the valley and the Ponte alla Luna.
A perfect nest for a couple is the ancient oven called La Ripa to emerge from the walls of the millenary sedimentary rock of Sasso. This is the intimate and romantic space that welcomed our sweet dreams together with those of our Otto, where it is the details that make the difference, from the en-suite bathroom with an open shower to the 18th century hand basin, up to the window opening onto the panorama which looks like a painting and on the frescoed wall, with attention to the environment in the courtesy set with natural shampoo and shower gel.
The third suite, called La Petra, is a real apartment entirely in stone with a kitchenette and a sofa bed in addition to the standard double bed. Here, too, particular care is noted in the choice of furnishings and ornaments that recall the sober elegance of the ancient bourgeois place of life.
On the terrace, which is accessed through the reception, breakfast is set that satisfies the palate with fragrant croissants and delicious homemade cakes by the very young pastry chef Vanessa who, next to her mother Elena, takes care of the management of the structure, but also the view that comes caressed by the landscape that changes with the hours of the day.
At sunset everything is tinged with a golden light and it is very pleasant to linger and chat. So, right here on the Controvento terrace, we asked Enrico, the owner of the structure, our questions about his project to create a widespread hotel in Sasso di Castalda.
“It was a fatal attraction, during a Sunday walk, and it was impossible to resist the call of these walls perched on the edge of the village, overlooking the river from above” – he told us.
So he decided to invest here, in this well-kept and picturesque town, not far from Potenza where he lives, by purchasing the stone houses that later became part of the Borgo Manca Suite.
“I was certainly convinced by the strategic location of this village which retains an atmosphere out of time, amidst steep stairways and alleys, and is surrounded by nature.
Then I was attracted by these houses, simple and solid, but built with a certain grace and charming in showing off their flowered wrought iron balconies. And with the same grace I wanted to intervene: the shapes and spaces have remained the traditional ones between arches, glimpses of the valley and rock. I wanted to restore them with measure and philological care and this conservative recovery of the rooms has allowed the maintenance of their strong identity, combined with the style and comfort of the guests “.
The vaults were consolidated, the floors damaged by time were restored and the walls were restored, trying to reconstruct the missing parts.
Even in the interiors the traces of history, with the recovery of ancient elements that were part of the place, coexist with an essential modernity, from the flat screen TV to the wifi available throughout the structure opened on 1 July last year.
Our impression? For the essential lines and raw materials, someone could bet that everything has remained this way over time and that everything has always been there with the added value of the views over the stream and the medieval part of the village, almost like telescopes pointed straight at the mountain in front that the evening is illuminated and seems even more powerful and looming over the valley.
Our wish? Come back as soon as possible to stay at Borgo Manca Suite with our Otto to find out what’s cooking because Enrico Torlo‘s project to create a network between the Dimore Lucane of excellence has just begun!
Borgo Manca Suite
Via Casale, 15 – Sasso di Castalda (Potenza)
Info: +39 333 3178062 – +39 328 6097335
www.borgomancasuite.it – info@borgomancasuite.it
